Asylum

by Mark Allan Gunnells

Curtis, a young college student is dragged to his first gay club by his best friend Jimmy for a night of dancing, drinking and sex…at least until the dead start to rise and attack the club. Trapped inside the Asylum are a small band of survivors, including a drag queen, a male stripper, a Vietnam vet bartender, a pretentious gay couple, and an unstable DJ.

Will this motley crew survive the hungry undead rattling the sealed-off doors? Will they survive each other? Will they survive their own personal demons? Asylum recalls George Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead —except with more gore and a grittier edge.

Contains the new short story "Lunatics Running the Asylum."

Genres: Horror, Zombies, LGBT, Speculative Fiction, Transgender

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2010

Reviews

[Uptown Horror Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of people are trapped in a gay nightclub as the zombie apocalypse unfolds right before their eyes.......and I loved every minute of it.

I enjoyed this novella alot, but I just wish it would've been longer. I'd love to see Mark Allan Gunnells write a full length zombie novel sometime in the future.

[Daniel Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

It doesn’t get much more straightforward than Mark’s 67-page novella Asylum. With no introductory explanation for the outbreak, a small group of gays are suddenly holed up in a club called Asylum with man-hungry zombies banging on the door.

There’s gut munching, suspense, a little bit of sex—it’s all just like a good horror movie. And of course there’s a cast of characters you’d expect to see in a gay club: the drag queen who owns the club; a DJ who begins to think the zombie outbreak is God punishing the gays; a burly ex-military bartender; a sweet couple; a virgin; a slut; a fag and his hag; a stripper.

We get very brief introductions into the personality of each character, but the novella’s main focus is the fast pace…and the self-destructive behaviors and interactions of those inside the club. It’s essentially a gay take on the Night of the Living Dead premise. The story is over in a flash. I could easily see this being included in a larger collection or even expanded into a longer novella.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful fresh take on the zombie mythos. Great fun!

[lee_readsbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: ASYLUM by Mark Allan Gunnells

Love 80's gritty horror films? Love campy horror? Love horror with a "Bite"-- no, not vampires: real-life issues--addiction, fear, social anxiety, sexual addiction, love, obsession, terror, bigotry of many stripes, true love and its loss, bitterness, resentment, peace in oneself, lack of internal peace..Author Mark Allan Gunnells bravely approaches these themes, and honey, the Zomb'pocalypse ain't the worst you need to worry over. Check out the additional new piece, "Lunatics Running the Asylum." The dead are actually nicer than the living, and far more considerate.

Mr. Gunnells introduces the Apocalypse in a new venue, a gay club owned and operated by an Earth Mother trans cross-dresser, who wants to help "gay orphans" like our protagonist Curtis, who don't have a strong support group. Now for Curtis (20-year-old university student and virgin. I'm really beginning to love the Feckless Hero category. Curtis is right in this category, but feckless and naive doesn't mean dumb or worthless. Curtis tocks, and so does his sexy heart object Jarvis.

This novella, and it's accompanying short story sequel, are sweet and entertaining, and still scary.

[Trix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, at least this had a surprise ending. I thought there would be a miracle or something to keep at least some of the cast alive. It's the only reason why this gets 2 stars.

I was expecting the focus to be on Curtis but his initiation in sex was off page whereas Jimmy was quite the "slut" as Gil put it. And with so many characters crammed in such a short story none had enough page time to endear themselves to me (though, yes, I had a fondness for sweet, innocent Curtis). Not sure what the point of the story was... the barricade inside the club was only a short respite before they all became zombies.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

When browsing the shelves of the bookstores (physical and digital) for the next book to read, I am always on the lookout for promising new authors. One of my recent discoveries is Mark Allan Gunnells. I first met Mark on Facebook, and I was anxious to read something he had written. At the time, there had only been one publication, and copies were no longer available. When he announced the release of Asylum, I snatched it up and put it at the top of my TBR pile. The fact that it was a zombie was a plus. As I mentioned in a previous review, zombies were never my thing, but since my first sale was also a zombie piece, they are fast becoming a favorite.

Asylum is a gay club owned and run by a matronly drag queen, Madam Diva. When the story opens, Curtis is hanging around the outside of the club while his friend Jimmy is giving some guy a blow job in the front seat of a car. The poor guy doesn't have a chance to climax before he is pulled from the car by a gang of what is first thought to be fag bashers -- that is, until Curtis and Jimmy see that the guy is literally being eaten by his attackers. In a panic, the friends race back to the club with the zombies in hot pursuit. Safely inside, they relate to the few stragglers still in the club what they witnessed outside. They are able to get through to the police, but the police are being inundated with calls from all around the city and it will be awhile before anybody can get to the club, so they just need to sit tight. It now becomes a waiting game. . . Will the police arrive before the zombies break in? Or will the zombies break in first? And will they be able to keep it together long enough to be rescued?

Mark Allan Gunnells is a remarkably gifted writer. In 90 pages (yes, Asylum is a novella), he has accomplished what it has taken other more noted authors twice as long to do, and that is create a realistic setting and introduce a cast of fully fleshed out, believable characters that you truly come to care about (my personal favorite was Madame Diva). While the story structure is straight out of Romero's Night of the Living Dead in that it's a group of strangers finding themselves trapped in an unbelievable situation, it is Gunnell's characters that breath new life into what could have been a tired rehash of an old story. The narrative moves along at a smooth, even pace, and the switches in point of view are natural and seamless.

My only complaint with Asylum is that it was too short, but if this is a sample of what Gunnells can do with a short form narrative, I can't wait to see what he can do with a full-length novel. Gunnells is definitely a writer to watch, as I have a feeling he has a future ahead of him. So if you happen to find yourself bored one afternoon with nothing to do, I suggest you pick up a copy of Asylum. I don't think you'll be disappointed. I know I wasn't.

[William M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 AND 1/2 STARS

I remember reading thousands (literally) of posts by this author on a past horror community chat site a few years ago and thinking to myself, it this guy would spend as much time writing fiction as he does posting, he would have a body of work to rival Stephen King! But it looks like he’s finally put pen to paper, or at least fingers to keyboard, and crafted a fairly enjoyable zombie tale.

Centering the action in and around a gay club with gay characters was certainly different than the other zombie stories I’ve read. The fact that the characters were gay didn’t change their situation fighting against the undead – the rules still apply, no matter your sexual preference. Gunnells’ strength is in his character development and he balances each of their personal stories with almost equal importance, like a good Robert Altman ensemble film. I do feel there might have been one or two overly preachy moments about gay rights and society’s unfair prejudice against them, but those instances were brief and fortunately didn’t slow down the story too much.

Besides the three typos I found, I would have liked the publisher to have printed the book’s title and author on the spine. Granted, this book is thin, but publishers such as Deadite Press have even thinner titles and still manage to print on the spine. I have thousands – yes, thousands – of books and its hard enough to keep track of them as it is, much less have blank spines. That being said, the cover is very effective and chilling and I give them props for the overall design. “The Zombie Feed” logo looks great, too.

While the story of “Asylum” is fairly standard for regular zombie readers, Gunnells never stumbles or holds back on eliminating the characters he so carefully creates in very brutal ways. I have to give credit to Jason Sizemore and his company, Apex Publications, for choosing this title to kick off their new imprint, The Zombie Feed. I look forward to seeing other work by Mark Gunnells and hope he dives into some longer form fiction.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fresh locale for a zombie attack--a gay club. Gunnell's pulls no punches with his great cast of characters. Not only does he thrust the reader into the middle of a zombie attack, but into a world most will not be familiar with.

I really enjoyed this fresh take on the zombie genre. Highly recommended.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zombies seem to be everywhere and attack anything living. They are a true killer who does not worry about, race, religion, gender, type of creature, or sexual orientation. All they care about is that their prey has a heat beat and warm blood running through the veins. It also helps that the prey be bit squishy so they can really sink their teeth in to their meal. It’s a great thing, at this time, they are only found in the mind of writers.

Yes I realize I’m painting a wonderful image of zombies but there isn’t much in the way of a killer that is as lethal, and patient as a zombie who has gotten your scent.

This takes me to the novella, Asylum, which was written by author Mark Allan Gunnells whose book The Quarry introduced me to his writing. I will warn those with younger eyes there is some sexual acts in this story that could bother those of a younger nature. To those who like that kind of stuff, there are sexual acts between consulting adults (men) that are mentioned in this story.

Asylum is not just the name of the novella but it is also the name of the bar we find the bulk of the story revolving around. The place is owned by Madam Diva a drag queen who wanted a place for others to go and be safe from the ignorant of the world. Diva employees an older Ex-military bartender, Gil, a black stripper named Devon and her lighting and music is handled by Devon. Others in the bar are Lance and his female friend Autumn, and another pair of men named Clive and Toby. These are the last of the people in the bar as the night is winding down.

The story opens with two college age young men in the parking lot with the more experienced of the two in a car with some accountant. This young man, Jimmy, is used to this lifestyle, hence his hookup and eventual fun in the car. He has brought his young, naive, friend Curtis along to give him a glimpse of what small town America had been hiding from him. At that moment in time Curtis is not only thinking about this evening but also about voiding his bladder.

Jimmy is “busy” in the car and Curtis decides he cannot wait any longer and goes around the corner of the bar to relieve himself. As Jimmy goes about pleasuring the accountant their night of fun is destroyed when the car window shatters and before Jimmy knows it the object of his attention is being pulled out the open window. It was quite the picture as the accountants pants were down by his knees. Due to the bigotry of others Jimmy’s first thoughts are it’s some “haters” out to beat up the gay men. He will find out just how wrong he is when he jumps out of the car looking for a fight, but instead finds the accountant being eaten, ALIVE!

This is where the books action steps into primary action as Curtis comes back, grabs his friend and they run to the only safety they have, Asylum.

Asylum will take you, ever so briefly, into the lives of those who find themselves in the bar. Each character will have to face some type of realization of what is going on outside their walls. The fact there are only two doors that are keeping the horde from braking in is not going to make things easy for those inside.

The story does more than make the reader face the zombie horde, but pieces of the story may also make you question who the monsters are? As you read the story and find out some of the back stories of the characters you realize these are just men. They are men who like anyone else just want to survive the craziness of the outside world. It’s possible when you read that you will get the underlining subtext of the statement. The outside world is not just the zombies outside as there are all types of monsters.

The other great thing about the story it will have you asking yourself a few of the questions these men ask themselves. The question of how to spend the potential last minutes of your life. Do you go down fighting? Do you partner up with someone for that last romp? Do you crack and just go nuts? How do you react?

Asylum is a nice entry into a very crowded zombie genre. The thing that sets this story apart the most is how well Gunnells does in developing his characters. You begin to feel for them and want them to survive. You will of course have to read the story to find out if they do or not.

[Warren Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zombies. The risen dead, perhaps animated by black magic and its practitioners, obscene arts, or by pure evil, with a taste for human flesh torn straight from the living—can there be a story about such that has a social message? Can there be a zombie tale that is a love story? Aren’t zombie stories about gore and lots of it? In his new novella, Asylum, Mark Allan Gunnells, gives an answer to all three of those questions: yes. Curtis, a twenty-year-old college student, is taken to a gay club, Asylum, by his best friend, Jimmy, to dance, to drink, to have sex. This is the first gay club for Curtis and, perhaps, his night for his first sexual experience.
Then, the dead rise and attack the club. A handful survives the initial assault. They lock themselves inside, as the risen dead howl in the darkness, beating at the door, lusting after the flesh of the living. This is where Gunnells goes beyond the blood and the entrails and “nightmare visions made flesh” (not that he doesn’t have a lot of nightmare visions) and explores being human and human experience—falling in love, coming of age, the wounds and scars of bigotry and prejudice, the fragility of goodness. Inside this besieged nightclub, Curtis and the stunned Jimmy find themselves trapped with other survivors, who include a drag queen, a male stripper wearing only a thong, a gruff bartender, a DJ haunted by religion-induced guilt, and a pretentious gay couple. This situation is a familiar one in zombie stories and could easily stay familiar: panic, despair, terrified confessions, and the living turn on each other as the dead continue their attack. Gunnells does include such familiar motifs—at least one of the living turns on the others, but he also makes the risky move of exploring who these survivors are and how they came to this club, and he takes the greater risk of examining these survivors as who they are outside this club: gay people with histories who have experienced what is also familiar: homophobia, bigotry, and prejudice. And he examines what is perhaps less familiar—their humanity, and that even as the zombies beat on doors that must eventually yield, it is what makes us human that is triumphant: love, overcoming such adversity as addiction, and emotional isolation, and traumatic childhoods and dysfunctional families. Curtis, even in the middle of nightmare, finds the beginnings of love. We are, it seems, at our best, when things are at their worst. The risky moves pay off.
Yes, perhaps, at times, the social message, the indictment of homophobia, does veer toward the sermonic, but what saves the story is that the message is made very human: the drag queen was once a “sissy boy” abused by his father, the Vietnam vet was kicked out of the Army that he loved for being gay. These are people we know. Gunnells skillfully weaves such back stories into this night of the risen dead, creating the intersecting layers that are a part of being human.
Asylum is a risky, dark, and compelling story, with an innovative take on the zombie tale that is both well told, with vivid details, and has an equally compelling social message. I’m not usually a fan of horror, but I found myself wishing Asylum had been longer. Recommended.

[Gef · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apex Books has a new imprint called The Zombie Feed, and among the first books to be published is a novella from budding author, Mark Allan Gunnells. With Asylum, Mark takes the shambling hordes of the walking dead and gives them a new target: a gay bar.

While the story shifts between several characters, all of whom find themselves barricaded inside the nightclub Asylum, the main character is Curtis, a small town boy unaccustomed to the gay lifestyle of the city. Not to mention that the twenty-year-old college student is still a virgin and intimidated by the sexual confidence of his friend Jimmy. His first visit to Asylum turns out to be a shocker in more ways than one when zombies creep out of the darkness to ambush he and his friend in the parking lot as the night winds down. They, and the few stragglers who remain inside the club, become trapped inside as the city seemingly becomes overwhelmed by the walking dead. And authorities don't seem to have a little gay bar high on their priority list.

In one sense, the subject matter feels very familiar. Take a group of people, usually two-dimensional stock characters, and hole them up in some secluded place as zombies try to get at them. George Romero's Night of the Living Dead kicked that off decades ago, and it's become well-worn territory ever since. To Mark's credit, the inclusion of a nearly all gay cast of characters is different--at least in my experience with zombie fiction--and the characters are presented in a more organic manner than the average American sitcom. Will & Grace this is not.

The tone carries some of that old Romero charm, and even the faintest hint of Tarantino's From Dusk Til Dawn thanks to the whole trapped-in-a-bar setting, but with less than eighty pages to tell this story there isn't quite enough time for the story to make as big an impact. Quite a few of the characters are fleshed out, rather than leaving them as pure fodder for the zombies, but I felt the story lacked in terror. The climax does offer much appreciated excitement, though. Maybe the tone is meant more to be tragic than terrifying, and I'm so used to a group of disparate characters turning on each other in zombie tales, I stepped into Asylum with too many preconceptions.

Overall, the story is a pretty good first crack at the bat by Zombie Feed, and Mark Allan Gunnells shows real promise with more of his work on the way through other outlets. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but zombie addicts will likely find a quick and satisfactory distraction in Asylum.

[Tj · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Skull Salad Reviews (http://skullsaladreviews.blogspot.com):

Asylum by Mark Allan Gunnells is the debut publication from The Zombie Feed, a new niche publisher specializing in zombie fiction. In this novella, Gunnells utilizes many of the well-known topes of zombie fiction. His zombies are slow, ambling, unintelligent Romero-inspired zombies chasing after a group of survivors who are barricaded inside a confined space. Fans of zombie films are in familiar territory here. However, Gunnells gives this old story a unique twist: This ragtag group of survivors are barricaded inside a gay bar called Asylum.

The main protagonist, a young virgin named Curtis, is on his first trip to a gay bar. While waiting for his friend to finish hooking up with a nameless accountant, the zombies begin attacking. They come out of nowhere. At first, the characters automatically assume the attackers are drunken homophobes, but soon realize these are not regular people. Their attackers are walking and eating their victims despite their own grievous wounds. Inside the bar, a character makes phone calls. Emergency responders have been inundated with calls. This is not an isolated incident. The dead have risen and there is nowhere to run. They barricade the doors of the bar and attempt to stay sane.

Asylum is a fitting title and a fitting name for the bar. Madame Diva, described as a drag queen, owns the bar, and she is a compassionate mother hen who created a place of refuge for the community she loves and cares for, almost as if these men are her children. She is a well-drawn and fascinating character.

In fact, most of the characters -- with a few notable exceptions -- are well-drawn. The story is tight and quick-moving and contains plenty of gory suspense for zombie fans. The gore is actually heartbreaking at times thanks to how well Gunnells draws most of his characters and manages to create sympathy for them. This makes for a compelling read, and I devoured this book in one sitting, even if it sometimes felt a bit too familiar and a trifle predictable. The ending, while not exactly unexpected, was a fitting coda.

So, overall, this is an extremely fun, fast-paced read. Highly recommended for zombie fans, especially those purists who enjoy the classic Romero-inspired zombies. My six-pack rating: 4 out of 6 glasses of Return of the Living Red Zombie Wine.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asylum is a quick, fast paced read, focusing on a group of people trapped in a nightclub called Asylum during the zombie apocalypse. There is a bit of gore in the beginning but this story isn't about the zombies, it's about how we cope with the idea of impending doom.

For a 60 some page novella, there is a lot going on in Asylum. It's filled with social commentary on how society deals with the LGBT community. As each character thinks on their past, we see that what society has dealt them changes their view on this zombie situation.

The protagonist, Curtis, is a good kid in a bad situation. You really like him from the start. The zombie action is sort of minimal as everything takes place in the club but the reminder that death is outside the door is always there. The story is really about how people will react to a situation.

There are a few scenes with sexual situations and of course there is foul language (who wouldn't cuss like a sailor with zombies outside their door?) The story was quick enough to enjoy in one sitting (except for me, the extra slow reader). Perfect for those dark and stormy nights when you need a scare.

[Michele Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Asylum is one of the first releases from relatively new Apex imprint, The Zombie Feed. If this bold, but recognizable zombie apocalypse story is any indication of things to come readers have a lot to look forward to.
Curtis is new to the gay nightclub scene, but he allows Jimmy to drag him along to Asylum despite his discomfort. Too bad zombies are coming to the party too. While in many ways a straight-forward zombie uprising tale it's nice to see a new range of stereotypes being pulled out and slapped around.
Asylum also sneaks in a true barb or two about the relationship between gay and straight cultures, and the relationship gay culture has with itself. Definitely recommended as a horror tale, and as a savvy example of inclusive fiction. In short, publishers, if you must keep handing us rehashes of the zombie uprising how about less on the different types of uprising and different types of zombies and more like this, that focus on the different kinds of people affected.
Contains: Violence, gore, m/m sex scenes

[D.g. Gass · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll admit it. I had gotten so sick of all the copycat zombie flicks that have become available over the past decade or three that, despite my love of horror, I had opted not to read novels that featured zombies. After all, there’s only so much you can do with a walking dead person, despite the various stages of decomposition. I know, zombie lore isn’t about the monster, but about the people who are trying to survive the onslaught from the brain sucking ghouls.

Now the question, what would you do if you were facing a zombie onslaught? Author Mark Allan Gunnells takes us inside a bar named Asylum and into the minds of the handful of people that are trapped behind the doors of the nightclub, while the walking dead try to get to them.

I’ll admit that I enjoyed this book. It was well written and the way that the characters developed, drew me in and kept me interested. This reader is looking forward to reading more of Mr. Gunnells work.

[Darrell Grizzle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asylum offers a new twist on the standard zombie story by placing it in a unique setting: a gay nightclub. There’s a surprising amount of depth and character development for such a short novella. The horror is intense at times, and so is the erotic energy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading more from Mark Allan Gunnells.

[Douglas Castagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced zombie novella. Twist is its inside a gay club. Zombies do not discriminate as we find out inside the Asylum, a trendy gay club. We are treated to some interesting characters, tropes in their own right, as well as their ultimate demise flesh eating style. I liked the energy and the intensity of this quick novella.

[Sheri White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun zombie story; review to come at Xomba soon.